POLICE are to be offered incentives to come to work and cut down the number of days taken off sick.

On offer for officers and support staff in a #370,000 plan will be #60 worth of clothes and fitness vouchers.

Merseyside police authority wants to introduce the financial incentives after officers took between 90 and 170 hours each off sick over nine months last year, well above the target of 71.67 hours.

The proposed "carrot and stick" approach follows complaints from union leaders that it was "de-motivating" to ban from promotion officers who take too many days off.

A report considered by Merseyside police authority last week set out how the vouchers could be exchanged for incentives including savings in high street shops and gyms, on work-related distance learning courses, or donated to a charity of the staff member's choice.

A similar voucher scheme has already cut West Midlands police officer absence down to 46.25 hours each a year, the second lowest in the UK.

The option is the latest in a long line of initiatives.

Last year, the Merseyside force introduced a primary-school style "re-ward", where any employee with a zero sick day record for five years receives a framed certificate signed by their area commander.

Anyone with a clean record for eight years has their certificate signed by a chief officer.

Yet the force is still failing to meet targets among support staff, who took on average between 70 and 90 hours off from last April to this January - way above the target of 63.33 hours.

As of last month, the force is still 14.35% away from reaching the target for support staff sickness absence, although it has beaten the target for officers.

Cllr Bill Weightman, chairman of the police authority, said the financial implications of a voucher scheme would have to be considered.

He said: "The incentive scheme is just one of the options we are looking at.

"In November it was agreed that an additional day's leave be granted to staff who did not take any sickness absence in a five-year period."

Last month Merseyside Fire Service held a draw to win a car for staff members who have not missed a day's work since last October.